Bafana Bafana name set to change

The naming rights of the national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, would have to change in the near future, the South African Football Association (Safa) announced at Safa House on Saturday.

Safa addressed the media after holding their first national executive meeting of the year.

“The issue arises of another company claiming they had the rights to the name first, and we [Safa] have been through the various legal routes to determine what is the best way forward,” said Safa president Kirsten Nematandani.

“We have come to a decision that the name we have for our national team should belong to the association and the risks of changing the name will be investigated,” said Nematandani.

Safa also expressed the need to acquire new land to continue to grow the organisation.

“The property we are in now is under public works, so we really have a need for our own land that encompasses training centres, technical centres and hotel accommodation in the region of 100 hectares,” said Nematandani.

Nematandani also said Safa would be announcing a new technical sponsor next week. - Sapa